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3 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. VAVASSEUR.

BREEGH LOADING ORDNANGE.

Patented Apr. 10,1883.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. VAVASSEUR.

BREEOH LOADING ORDNANGE.

No. 275,550. Patented Apr. 10,1883.

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BREEGH LOADING ORDNANCE. Patented Apr. 10, 1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, OF BEAR LANE, SOUTHWARK, COUNTY OF SURREY,

' ENGLAND.

BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,550, dated April lo, 1883.

Application filed January 3, 1883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and residing at Bear Lane, Southwark,in the county ot'Surrey, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Ordnance, (for which I have made application for Letters Patent in Great Britain,No. 5,559, dated November 22, 1882, and in France, No.

to 140,283, dated December 9, 18.82,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading ordnance.

In breech-closing arrangements formed with screws of interrupted thread, instead of making the screw thread uniform in diameter throughout its whole length, I form it of two or more steps, that next the bore being the smallest and successively increasing toward 2c the breech, the threads being at the same time kept out of line with each other longitudinally. The effort of the exploded charge to blow out the breech-screw is thus transmitted both to the several layers of metal of different diameters in which the screws engage, and is also distributed around an entire circle, or nearly so, instead ot'only on ahalf-circle, as at present. My proposed form of screw allows oi the breech beingopened with much lesslongitudinal movement of the screw after unlocking than with a screw of uniform diameter. In some cases, instead of forming screw-threads on the plug for closing the breech, I make annular rings similar to a thread in section.

5 In order that my said invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into ef feet, I will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a section of the 0 breech of a gun made in accordance with my invention. In this figure the breech screw or plug is in its place and the breech closed as for firing. Fig. 2 is also a sectional view. Here the breech screw or plug is represented 5 as drawn back and ready for opening the (No model.) Patented in England November 22, 1882, No. 5,559, and in France December 9, 1882, No. 140,283.

breech. The dotted lines represent the position of the plug and other parts when the breech is partly open. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the gun with the breech closed.

In the gun represented the screw is in two steps. a and a? are the two steps in the gun. They are two successive enlargements of the bore, and in each there are two groups of internal screw-threads, a a", separated by intervals somewhat wider than the groups, and the groups in the steps a are opposite the intervals in the groups a The breech-plug has two corresponding steps upon it, b and b and on each are two groups of external screwthreads, b b", and adapted to engage with the threads within the breech of the gun. In i place of screw-threads, portions of annular '2 rings may, as already stated, be substituted. 1 The number of steps may be increased, if desired. The breech-plug is conveniently car 6 5 ried in a ring or collar, 0, through which it can slide, and in which it can also turn, the movement being, however, limited by the stop c. The ring or collar 0 is jointed at c to the breech of the gun. b and b are handles upon the plug, by which it can be turned and moved backward and forward.

What 1 claim is The combination of the cannon having the internal steps, a a each provided with groups 7 5 of threads a a extending partly around it and separated by intervals, with the groups of threads of the one step arranged opposite the spaces between the groups of threads of the other step, and the plug for opening and closing the breech having the steps I) b and groups of threads b b likewise spaced and arranged, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

JOSIAH VAVASSEUR.

Witnesses:

E. DOWN, O. E. WALLIS, Both of Bear Lane, Southwark, London. 

